A new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), The Condition of Britain: Growing up and becoming an adult, has revealed that 50,000 16-18 year olds are taking low-level courses which will not lead to employment.

Up to a fifth of the 250,000 young people on such courses would be better off doing an apprenticeship or traineeship.

Kayte Lawton, senior research fellow at the IPPR, said: “Most young people don’t choose to walk away from work or education, but most employers won’t hire teenagers any more. Young people who don’t do well enough at school often end up taking colleges courses that don’t prepare them for work or further study. Many of these courses don’t include enough decent work experience and often fail to lead to a recognised qualification.

“We need to see big changes to the way that post-16 education works and we need employers to step up and offer more work experience to young people to help them learn the skills they need to get on in the workplace. We can’t expect schools to do this by themselves.”